Sexy Sweet Thing
Sexy Sweet Thing is the debut studio album by American singer Natasha Lewis. It was released on August 14, 2007, by Prepy Records, her own division on BMG, created during the making of the album. She collaborated with producers Socott Storch, Kara DioGuardi, Timbaland, and Max Martin among others on the album. It was composed in a pop-dance style. Sexy Sweet Thing ''received mixed reception from critics. Some deemed it as being filled with "generic songs", while others praised Lewis' vocal performance. The album debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard 200, with 92,000 copies sold in its first week. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and also reached the top ten in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, and Switzerland. Background Lewis' made some great connections during her years as a working model in Europe, so when she signed with BMG she was able to create her own division in the label. She did it to have more creative control over her work. Lewis collaborated with producers Scott Storch, Kara DioGuardi and Max Martin among others on the album. Lewis co-wrote half of the album. Although Lewis stated that when she first heard "Irresistible", she did not want to record it, expressing that she felt the song was not catchy, but grew to like the song at the end of the recording process when she and Sean Garret starting making some changes to the chorus. In an interview with Kidzworld, Natasha explained how the producers and writers helped her develop her song-writing abilities, Release The album was first released on August 14, 2007. Upon its release, the singer has been very noticed by the general public as the music video for "Irresistible" started getting attention on YouTube because of the scenes where the singer is washing a car. As the song grew, the album sales started to get a little boost. Months later the album was reissued with a deluxe version adding three new songs, including the hits "Want It" and "Kiss Kiss". Singles "Over" was released as the album's lead single commercially worldwide on April 2007, through digital distribution. The song failed to make an impact on any charts around the globe. However, it was well received by music critics and was later considered a classic by fans. "Irresistible" was released as the second single from the album. It was also well received by critics, most of whom have praised its production. The single achieved greater success than "Over" by entering the top 10 on the charts in almost all the countries it was released to. "A Girl Like Me" was the album's third single. It failed to match the success of the previous single in the almost every chart, but the music video draw attention due to her romance with Brad Shepard, who appeared on the video. "Screwed" was released as the fourth single. The song was critically appreciated for its catchy tune and the pock rock vibe, but critics felt Lewis vocals fell flat this time. The song has reached the top 10 in countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada and the top 20 in others. "Want It" and "Kiss Kiss" were announced as the next singles and were used to promote the album's re-release. The former became a smash hit in the US, entering the top five, and the latter was number one on the UK Singles Charts for two weeks. The previous singles were supposed to be the last ones, but BMG decided to release "Shoulda Neva" as the sixth and final single from the album. It failed to make an impact on any charts. Critical reception The album received generally mixed reviews from critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 47, citing "mixed or average reviews". A highly positive review came from Kerri Mason of Billboard, who felt it was "packed with potential hits." Los Angeles Times argued, "Lewis definitely managed to get a good number of good producers to work with her however, she doesn't have the 'it' factor and most songs would end up being better in other voices". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album two out of five stars, remarking it "sinks to crass, craven depths that turn Sexy Sweet Thing into a grotesque emblem of all the fabricated pop of this decade." Spin wrote, "Other pop acts have nothing to worry about with this one", while Sal Cinquemani of Rolling Stone criticized Lewis' vocal performances, and compared 'Irresistible' to other pop songs sans personality and conviction". Alex Miller of NME discouraged music consumers with "even a passing interest in actually enjoying a record" from buying it. Track listing Standard edition Deluxe edition